Well ServedMy husband was a fireman for several years. In our smallish community, firefighters are all volunteers. When the pagers begin to crackle and the siren wails, all abandon what they are doing and hurry to the firehall. The siren is loud—designed to be heard (and ‘felt’) for at least a couple of miles—as mournful as an air raid siren. (The hackles on my neck still rise, hearing it.) There have been some nasty fires, and the families know that can mean meals left waiting & wakeful nights. At such times the community pulls together with dozens of kindnesses— child-minding and rides, tables groaning with sandwiches, urns of coffee, even a warm place to collapse for a few minutes.The image will hold different layers of meaning for each viewer. For my part, I tried to show one of the finest qualities of human nature: our ability—when the worst happens and the ‘chips are down’—to all pull together. This gear is veteran of countless fires, and the painting is tribute to any who wear it.’ The grain of the idea for this piece came to Judy when the Chief was musing about what should be done with the department’s old equipment. Judy felt it was a shame that it not be preserved somehow, then thought about the multitude of stories the equipment could tell if it could speak...She had proceeded with the rough-in when the horror of 9/11 happened—and found it hard to continue, for awhile.“‘That’s exactly right’ is the most common comment I hear from other firefighters or their families, upon seeing the image or reading the story,” she says. “It is hard for most people to appreciate that the person sitting next to you at work or at the soccer field may—even within the next 20 minutes or so—be thrust into a fiery life/death situation. We owe a them a great deal of respect.”The original painting is an oil on canvas , 16” x 20” approx. Inquiries about the original may be send here.Published as a Limited Edition lithograph from the original oil painting Image size 13.625” by 17” (approx)Signed and numbered (of 700) $85.00 Artist’s proofs (of 70) $100.00